Few Big 12 games have had as much on the line as last season's Oklahoma-Oklahoma State game in Stillwater on Nov. 29.

The Sooners were playing to finish in a three-way tie for the South Division lead (a tie that eventually was broken in OU's favor by the Bowl Championship Series standings).

Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford was in position to make a pitch to Heisman Trophy voters covering the game or watching on ABC's national telecast.

And to add the last dash of spice, it was a Bedlam game matching two rivals.

Oklahoma's 61-41 victory was a full-service, all-you-can watch buffet of big plays and fortunate bounces. It also had the highlight that might have clinched Bradford's eventual election as the second sophomore to win the Heisman.

"Sometimes you do need to have a little luck to win, and I felt like there were a couple plays that luck was on our side," Bradford said after the game. "But I still think that we played very well overall."

Early in the game Bradford injured the thumb on his left (non-throwing) hand. The injury would require surgery (he wound up holding the Heisman Trophy with a crimson-colored cast on his hand). That made his highlight effort all that more impressive.

With Oklahoma leading 30-26 late in the third quarter, the Sooners had the ball just inside the Cowboys' 10-yard line. Bradford took the shotgun snap, was pressured and rolled to his right. He turned toward the goal line and went airborne. He was met by an Oklahoma State defender and went spinning in the air.

Bradford's run put the Sooners at the Cowboys' 1-yard line. OU scored on Bradford's quarterback sneak ... even though he fumbled the snap.

That was one of several noteworthy plays.

* Tight end Jermaine Gresham scored a 73-yard touchdown on a third-down pass that was intended for Manuel Johnson and deflected into the air over three Cowboys defenders and into his arms 10 yards downfield. He was able to outrun the rest of the defenders the final 50 yards to put Oklahoma up 30-19.

* Before Gresham's play, Oklahoma State trailed 21-19 after scoring a touchdown. The Cowboys went for two points to try to tie the score by quarterback Zac Robinson fumbled. The Sooners scored a defensive two-point conversion to take a 23-19 lead when defensive end Frank Alexander returned the fumble.

* The Cowboys' Perrish Cox had his fourth career kickoff return touchdown. His 90-yard return made it 44-41 in the fourth quarter and kept Oklahoma State's comeback hopes alive. The Sooners, though, scored the last 17 points, putting them over 60 for the fourth consecutive game.